Sun and Moon starters and early team building
Choose Rowlet, Litten or Popplio and prepare a flexible team for the opening island challenges.
Original Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon for Nintendo 3DS (2016). Sun and Moon differences are labelled. Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon have a different story, expanded Pokédex and altered trials.
Three partners from Hala
| Starter | Evolution line | Final typing | Practical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowlet | Dartrix at 17 → Decidueye at 34 | Grass / Ghost | Physical Grass coverage; gains Ghost typing at its final stage |
| Litten | Torracat at 17 → Incineroar at 34 | Fire / Dark | Physical attacks; loses none of its Fire identity while gaining Dark |
| Popplio | Brionne at 17 → Primarina at 34 | Water / Fairy | Special Water and Fairy coverage |
Choose a favourite design or battle style. All three can finish the story with supporting partners. Their ordinary starter Abilities are Overgrow, Blaze and Torrent; later Hidden Ability distributions are not the starter gift itself.
Train a party with different jobs
Early routes offer choices such as Pikipek, Grubbin, Magnemite and Pichu. Use the Alola Pokédex to check each location rather than expecting every species on Route 1. Keep one safe catching partner and add coverage for the next island’s Water, Fire and Grass trials. Grubbin’s final evolution needs a much later original-game location.
Use the Exp. Share deliberately
The Exp. Share distributes experience across the party while enabled. If a partner is falling behind, give it a useful battle task and inspect its moves after levelling. You can switch the Exp. Share off if you want tighter control over levelling and EV gains. Evolution is helpful, but a new typing can change weaknesses as well as strengths.
Know the two starter rivals
Hau takes the starter that is weak to yours. Kukui’s first-League team uses the remaining line that has an advantage over your starter, so the final battle is not a repeat of Hau’s early matchup. TMs are reusable in Generation VII: coverage taught for a specific challenge does not consume the TM.
These guides cover original Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon (2016). Check the version and in-game time before planning an encounter.